Private lander touches down on moon but sending weak signal
A private lander on Thursday made the first U.S. touchdown on the moon in more than 50 years, but managed just a weak signal back until flight controllers scrambled to gain better contact.
Despite the spotty communication, Intuitive Machines, the company that built and managed the craft, confirmed that it had landed upright. But it did not provide additional details, including whether the lander had reached its intended destination near the moon’s south pole. The company ended its live webcast soon after identifying a lone, weak signal from the lander. “We can confirm, without a doubt, our equipment is on the surface of the moon,” mission director Tim Crain reported as tension built in the company’s Houston control centre.
Added Intuitive Machines CEO Steve Altemus: “I know this was a nail-biter, but we are on the surface and we are transmitting. Welcome to the moon.”
Data was finally starting to stream in, according to a company announcement two hours after touchdown. The landing put the U.S. back on the surface for the first time since NASA’s Apollo moonwalkers.
Intuitive Machines became the first private business to pull off a lunar landing, a feat achieved by only five countries. Another U.S. company, Astrobotic Technology, gave it a shot last month, but never made it to the moon, and the lander crashed back to Earth. Both companies are part of a NASA supported program to kick-start the lunar economy.
Astrobotic was among the first to relay congratulations. “An incredible achievement. We can’t wait to join you on the lunar surface in the near future,” the company said via X.
Intuitive Machines “aced the landing of a lifetime,” NASA Administrator Bill Nelson posted.
The final few hours before touchdown were loaded with extra stress when the lander’s laser navigation system failed. The company’s flight control team had to press an experimental NASA laser system into action, with the lander taking an extra lap around the moon to allow time for the last-minute switch.
With this change finally in place, Odysseus descended from a moon-skimming orbit and guided itself toward the surface, aiming for a relatively flat spot among all the cliffs and craters near the south pole.
As the designated touchdown time came and went, controllers at the company’s command centre anxiously awaited a signal from the spacecraft some 400 kilometres away. After close to 15 minutes, the company announced it had received a weak signal from the lander.
Launched last week, the sixfooted carbon fibre and titanium lander — towering 4.3 metres — carried six experiments for NASA. The space agency gave the company $118 million US to build and fly the lander, part of its effort to commercialize lunar deliveries ahead of the planned return of astronauts in a few years.